The Always Saga
by Smiling and Stabbing
Summary: SLASH WARNING! A series of short encounters between Squall and Seifer.
1. First Kiss

First Kiss

Rating: PG-13

Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII

Pairings: Irvine/Selphie, Squall/Seifer, hints of Quistis/Seifer and Edea/Seifer

Warnings: Contains Non-explicit Slash

Dedications: To Clo and Merc who DROVE ME TO IT.

"Wow!" Selphie exclaimed. "It's sooooo weird to find out there's stuff we don't even remember forgetting!"

_You never stop, do you?_ Squall thought to himself as the girl bounced around him. It was true, though, Selphie hadn't stopped her excited rambling since they'd re-boarded Garden. She, and the rest of the team, had proceeded to ask Irvine all sorts of questions about what they were like when they were kids, and as he explained more and more of the past was starting to come back to them, just as it had on the basketball court at Trabia.

Squall was no exception to this rule. He could feel himself remembering bits and pieces of life back at the orphanage, things he'd thought that he'd maybe made up in dreams. Things that were making more and more sense as he listened to the cowboy talk.

"Do you have a favorite memory, Irvine?" Selphie asked.

"Well, of course I do!" he exclaimed. "My first kiss."

"Oooooh!" Selphie proceeded to bounce up and down again. "Could you tell us about it?"

"Why, of course..."

_Selphie was sitting on the stairs outside the old house, looking at the ocean and trying to hold back her tears. Irvine found her sitting there, hugging her knees to her chest. "What's wrong, Selphie?" he asked._

_She sniffed hard as she answered "We're never going to see each other again."_

_"Oh, don't be silly, Seffie!" He sat down beside her and smiled. "We'll see each other again, I promise!"_

_Selphie wiped her eyes with the back of her tiny hand. "You promise?"_

_"Of course I promise!" Irvine put a hand around her shoulder in a half-hug. "Someday we'll all get back together and have a big party!"_

_"Except Seifer," Selphie demanded. "He's mean. Who's going to stop him from picking on me when you're gone?"_

_"Oh, don't worry. Matron will stop him. And if she doesn't, you can just punch him in the nose. POW!" Irvine made a punching motion in the air._

_"Quisty will tell on me," Selphie worried._

_"Nah, Quisty would probably hit him herself." Irvine chuckled._

_"I still don't want you to leave!" Selphie hugged Irvine hard. "I'm going to miss you so much!"_

_Irvine hugged her back. "Hey, like I said, we'll see each other again, right?"_

_"But what if we don't?"_

_"Well, just in case..." Irvine leaned into Selphie and kissed her lightly on the lips. She blushed and tried to pull away, looking embarrassed._

_That's when they both heard Zell yelling "Matron! Selphie and Irvine are kiiiiiiiiiiiiising!"_

Selphie was blushing just as hard as she had back on that day years ago by the time Irvine finished his story. "I...feel awful that I didn't remember that. It was really a sweet moment until Zell ruined it."

Zell looked irritated. "I was a KID! I didn't mean it!"

Quistis laughed at her friends. Then she grew silent. "Irvine was right, you know. I would have helped you punch Seifer. Especially after my first kiss."

"You remember it?" Zell asked her.

"Yeah. It's funny, but I didn't remember it until Irvine told his story. But now..."

_Quistis was packing her bags diligently. She and Irvine were both leaving the next day, he was headed for Galbadia and she was heading for Balamb. Both of them were leaving behind the only family they'd ever known._

_She was trying very hard to be mature and not to cry. She was honored to have been accepted to Garden years ahead of when she should have been, and she was trying to be brave about all of it. But ever since Sis had left, they'd all been terrified of the day they would have to leave their friends behind forever. _

_She suddenly became aware of someone standing beside her. She turned her head slightly and caught a glimpse of Seifer who was apparently watching her pack._

_"What do you want, Seifer?" she asked angrily. Seifer was almost impossible to get along with, and him being here could only mean trouble._

_"I just want to prove something," he answered, coldly. "Something important."_

_"Seifer, I really have to pack. Could this wait for another time?"_

_"No. It really can't." Seifer took a step closer to her. He stopped, looked towards the doorway, then smiled. He leaned close into Quistis and kissed her lightly on the lips._

_"There." He said. "That's all."_

_He smirked again and headed for the door, leaving her standing alone in the bedroom, stunned._

"To this day I have no idea what he was trying to prove," Quistis mused. "He was always a little odd, now that I think about it."

"He was strong, though," Rinoa remarked. "And really brave." She sighed. "But, I guess we just weren't meant to be."

_Of course you weren't._ Squall thought. _Seifer wouldn't have liked you. Seifer certainly couldn't have LOVED you. Seifer could never love any..._

_Squall was sitting alone in the garden to the side of the house when he heard Zell yell "Matron! Selphie and Irvine are kiiiiiiiiiiiiising!" He tried to ignore the other boy's screams as he wiped his eyes free of tears again. He hadn't really been able to smile since Sis had left them. _

_He suddenly became aware of Seifer's presence. "Stupid chicken wuss," he muttered. Squall looked at him angrily, causing the other boy to respond, "Oh, not you, Zell. Making a big deal out of kissing."_

_"Maybe it is a big deal," Squall replied. "Maybe it's the biggest deal ever."_

_"Eh, not when you're kissing girls. I never want to kiss a girl." Seifer sat down beside Squall. "I don't see how you could like it."_

_"But you're supposed to like kissing girls," Squall pointed out. "You don't mind when Matron kisses you on the cheek."_

_"Matron's not a GIRL!" Seifer defended. "Matron's like a princess or something. You can like kissing them."_

_"I bet you'd like kissing if you tried it," Squall muttered._

_"Oh yeah!" Seifer exclaimed. To Squall's great surprise, the other boy suddenly leaned in and kissed him full on the lips._

_There was a moment of strangeness to it, a newness neither of them could really understand But there was something else. There was a feeling of rightness to it, a feeling of finally having found the person they were looking for without evening knowing they were looking. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Seifer finally broke the kiss._

_"There," he said smugly, "how was that?"_

_Squall caught his breath for a few seconds before replying "I...liked it."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because...it was you."_

_Seifer paused for a few seconds. Then, he laughed. "Well, I thought it was nothing special. I could have been kissing Quistis-horseface and felt the same way." He laughed again. "Watch, I'll prove it."_

"Squall? Squall?" A voice broke through Squall's reverie. He shook his head and looked up to see Quistis beckoning to him. "Where do we go from here?"


	2. Dreams: Anything for Love

redDreams: Anything for Love  
Part of the Squall/Seifer "Always" saga  
  
Rating: R  
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII  
Pairings: Squall/Seifer, hints of Possessed!Edea/Seifer  
Warnings: Contains Explicit M/M Slash  
Dedications: To Clo and Merc who DROVE ME TO IT.  
  
_One of these days, I'm gonna tell ya 'bout my ROMANTIC dream!_  
Seifer shook his head as he recalled yelling those words to Squall. What kind of an IDIOT was he? Those were his dreams, no one else's. They shouldn't belong to anyone else...no, wait, they COULDN'T belong to anyone else. Now, as he lay in bed in only his boxers and a white tee-shirt, he only wanted to escape into them again.  
He turned onto his side in his bed and cursed at the world for what had taken place today. SeeD just didn't understand, none of them understood. He did what he thought was right, and if the rest of the squad hadn't gotten in his way he might have pulled it off, too. It was that horsefaced Instructor, that Chicken-wuss, and Squall...  
Seifer was startled when the door to his room opened. He sat up and blinked against the light in the doorway. He could make out a silhouette, and from it's stance he knew immediately who it was.  
"What the hell are you going here?" He demanded. "I thought you'd still be out at that party."  
The figure silently entered the room. Seifer's eyes adjusted and he looked his visitor over.  
"The uniform looks awful on you," he snapped.  
"You didn't pass," the other boy responded, as if he hadn't heard the insult.  
"You're just catching onto that?" Seifer snapped, lying back down on the bed. "So, what, did you come in here to boast, rub it in my face? That doesn't seem like you at all, Squall."  
There was a long pause. Then, Squall muttered, "I came here for an explanation."  
"An explanation? Of what? What I did today?"  
Squall moved closer to the bed. "You told me that someday you'd tell me about your romantic dream."  
Seifer laughed. "I did, didn't I? Well, I'm not going to tell you now. You don't deserve my dream any more than you deserve to be a SeeD."  
There was a pause. Then, Squall simply said "Then, I'm ordering you."  
Seifer sat back up. "What the hell did you just say?"  
"I said, I'm ordering you to tell me about your dreams."  
Seifer smirked. "In case you haven't been told, I'm not good at following orders. Cid and Instructor Trepe both took the opportunity to tell me so. That's why I'm not in that ridiculous uniform."  
"You really don't like the uniform?" Squall asked.  
"No, I don't."  
Squall reached up and slowly removed his jacket. "Then I'll take it off." He threw his jacket on the floor, and then reached up and removed his undershirt, revealing his chest, well developed from years of training with the heavy gunblade.  
He walked closer to Seifer, then bent over the boy and whispered "Lay back down...that's an order."  
For some reason, that was one order Seifer was prepared to obey.  
Squall straddled the other boy and began kissing him hard on the mouth. After a few moments, his lips moved down to Seifer's neck, nipping a bit at the soft skin there. His hands slid under Seifer's shirt and began slowly pulling it up. He paused the kissing only long enough to remove the shirt, then he turned his attention to Seifer's own well muscled chest.  
Squall took one nipple into his mouth and slowly ran his tongue around it. Seifer inhaled loudly and then exhaled in a gasp as Squall bit down on the hardened nipple. He tried to control his breathing and anticipation as he felt Squall move to the other nipple.  
Seifer felt his rival's tongue trail down his chest to just above his boxers. He whimpered, then cursed himself for doing so. What the hell was going on? Why the hell was he letting Squall do this to him?  
He had to stop this.  
He had to stop the other boy from running his hands down Seifer's solid thighs.  
Had to stop him from removing his boxers.  
Had to do something about how hard he was when the other boy's mouth consumed him.  
But there was nothing he could do when Squall's mouth began working on his penis. There was no way to stop the excitement he felt as Squall's tongue teased the head of his cock. The only course of action he could take was to grab the dark head of hair and urge himself further into that warm mouth.  
Squall took him in further, working the swollen member with an expert's precision. Somewhere, in the back of Seifer's mind was a feeling of this being right, of this being what was supposed to happen. Of something they had started years ago and never quite finished.  
But all that was obscured by the waves of pleasure overriding his senses, all but one small voice which said simply "I liked it...because it was you."  
He could feel himself on the edge, could feel himself ready to let go. He arched his back and screamed "OH GOD!"  
Seifer sat up, sweaty and shaking in his bedroom. He blinked back tears at the sick realization...  
...it was just the dreams again.  
_That wasn't enough, _he thought._ That just wasn't enough. It wasn't fair. I NEED more, dammit!_  
_And you can have more..._a voice in his head responded. _I promise to give you more, give you all you could desire, if you prove yourself worthy. The time is coming, my knight, when you will have to prove your loyalty to me. And if you do, I will give you more of these dreams you love so much._  
Seifer listened to the voice, that same voice he'd been hearing for years. The same voice that arrived when those first dreams did, the voice that had comforted him all this time. "You promise?" he whispered.  
_Of course, my knight. I promise, your sorceress will send you the dreams, if you do exactly as I say..._


	3. Behind Blue Eyes

Behind Blue Eyes

Part of the Squall/Seifer "Always" saga  
  
Rating: R

Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII  
Pairings: Squall/Seifer  
Warnings: Explicit language, bloodshed, implied slash  
Dedications: To Clo and Merc who DROVE ME TO IT.

Notes: Largely inspired by the Cowboy Bebop Episode "Ballad of Fallen Angels"

_Note to self: When Seifer makes challenges, he goes all out._

_And fuck me for not thinking of that sooner._

Squall tried to suppress those thoughts as he brought his gunblade up to block Seifer's slash. But try as he might, he couldn't figure out what the hell had driven him to agree to this damn fight today of all days.

Cold blue anger flashed through his eyes at the other boy. That last blow had knocked him back a few steps when he blocked it. Seifer charged again, raising Hyperion for a downward slash. Squall raised his blade in a crossblock, the impact barely registering. After awhile you stop noticing the feeling of the impact, just like after awhile you stop noticing any feeling in your own body.

It was easier that way. If anyone knew that it was Squall Leonhart.

Seifer grunted as he attacked again and was once more deflected. He stepped back a few steps, and in a half laugh and half grunt asked "What's wrong, Leonhart? Don't have the balls to attack me?"

Squall charged the other boy. He slashed at Seifer, but once again it was proving to be a stalemate. Both boys knew the other's fighting style too well, both knew what the other was planning. It was almost as if they knew what the other was going to do before the other even did it.

_Maybe knowing that is my advantage..._ Squall pondered.

He was interrupted by Seifer's laughter. "This is going nowhere fast," he observed. "Let's face it, Leonhart, we're too alike for this to ever reach an ending."

Squall swung at the other boy. "I'm not like you."

"Oh, but you are," Seifer replied as he parried. "You're exactly like me. Only not as good looking."

"You don't know what I am," Squall attacked again, but he knew his weariness was showing.

"I know I recognize that look in those eyes of yours. The one you try to keep anyone from seeing. Yes Squall. That look. I know it because I get it too. Or hadn't you noticed?"

"I'm nothing like you," Squall insisted again.

"You're exactly like me. Tell me you don't get that same feeling every time you hoist that blade of yours. Tell me you don't get the same rush when you finally see whatever you're fighting crumple to the ground. Tell me that and I'll know you're lying."

Squall felt the fury that matched his name rising in himself, but suppressed it. Getting too angry would mean making a mistake, and with live steel you couldn't afford too many mistakes.

"Still silent, eh?" Seifer smirked. "You see Squall, the truth is that we're alike because the same blood drives us. Drives our loves, our hates, our desires..."

Before Seifer could finish, Squall had charged at him again. He struck out, trying to catch Seifer off guard...

...but Seifer was the one with the real surprise.

Squall felt the fire spell hit him full in the stomach. He grit his teeth against the pain, figuring one more scar wouldn't do him any great harm. He crumpled backwards, distracted, forgetting that he was still in a fight and needed to block.

Before he could raise his blade, Seifer was slashing at his face.

Squall could feel the sting of the cut on his face and it brought him back to reality. Seifer was standing above him. He looked pleased with himself, proud of his artwork. "Yeah, that's the blood I was talking about...." he mused.

Now there was no suppressing the fury. Blue fire burned where blue ice had been moments before.

Squall lashed out at Seifer, no longer concerned for the safety of his partner. For a split second he was shocked that he had ever been that concerned for Seifer's safety. But what shocked him more was that he was protecting Seifer without realizing what he had been doing. He had been pulling hits through the whole fight, avoiding striking where he would mare the other man's flesh. He had been avoiding cutting Seifer and avoiding blows which were sure kills.

But that was over in an instant as his blade flashed and suddenly Seifer's face was left with a bloody trail on it as well.

Squall reached up and wiped blood out of his once more cold eyes. He looked at the wet redness on his jacket sleeve, then looked at Seifer's bloody face. "I don't see the similarities."

Seifer grit his teeth in anger. "You little son of a bitch..." he growled.

"You just proved my point."

Squall was taken aback for a second. Then, he felt the dizziness of having lost too much blood, having endured more than a body should ever have to. This needed to end.

_One of us has to die because..._

Squall was suddenly scared. He was terrified to finish that thought. Finishing it meant that everything would change. It would mean he'd have to live with that knowledge until the day he died.

Luckily he was cut off by the yelling.

"Seifer! Squall!" An angry looking blonde woman ran towards the two boys. "What the hell is going on here?"

Seifer was still laughing. "Lover's quarrel, Instructor Trepe."

"Very funny Seifer," Quistis Trepe glared over her spectacles. "I'm guessing I'd be right in assuming you started this?"

"Just a little practice," Seifer assured her, his hand over the cut on his face as he tried to stop the bleeding. "Big exam today, right?"

But Quistis had already turned her attention to Squall. "Are you all right, Squall?" She asked. She reached up to push a bit of the dark hair out of the still bleeding cut on the younger boy's face. "You two look like you were trying to kill each other."

_Because we were. Because one of us has to die because we belong together._

Quistis watched as Squall crumpled to the ground, unconscious.


End file.
